There is no origin for the idea of an afterlife, save the conclusion which the savage draws from the notion suggested by dreams.

The existence of a first cause of the universe is a necessity of thought ... Amid the mysteries which become more mysterious the more they are thought about, there will remain the one absolute certainty that we are over in the presence of an Infinite, Eternal Energy from which all things proceed.

What, then, do they want a government for? Not to regulate commerce; not to educate the people; not to teach religion, not to administer charity; not to make roads and railways; but simply to defend the natural rights of man -- to protect person and property -- to prevent the aggressions of the powerful upon the weak -- in a word, to administer justice. This is the natural, the original, office of a government. It was not intended to do less: it ought not to be allowed to do more.

Marriage: a ceremony in which rings are put on the finger of the lady and through the nose of the gentleman.

Never educate a child to be a gentleman or lady alone, but to be a man, a woman.

That feelings of love and hate make rational judgments impossible in public affairs, as in private affairs, we can clearly enough see in others, though not so clearly in ourselves.

Music must take rank as the highest of the fine arts - as the one which, more than any other, ministers to human welfare.